A chartered accountant has been jailed after defrauding her employer of over £40,000, which she later spent on a ski holiday in the French Alps. Kirsty Payne, 44, worked at Marshall Fleet Solutions, a commercial vehicle dealer based in Cambridge. In February 2025, she processed a payment of £400,410 from various suppliers, but this was £40,383 more than the correct amount. The error was discovered in April 2025, when checks revealed the extra money had been transferred to an account belonging to one of Payne’s family members. Payne had been on sick leave from March 30, citing declining mental health. During a wellbeing check with the company’s HR head, she admitted to taking the money fraudulently and resigned from her position. Initially, she told police the funds were for a family member’s medical treatment, but later admitted they were spent on a skiing trip to the French Alps. Despite earning around £80,000 annually, Payne claimed she was experiencing financial difficulties, according to Cambridgeshire Police. Payne had a previous conviction for fraud by false representation. She pleaded guilty to one count of fraud by false representation at a previous hearing at Cambridge Magistrates’ Court. On September 10, she was jailed for one year and six months at Peterborough Crown Court. The sentence included 10 months for the current fraud offense, with the longer term resulting from her breaching a suspended sentence from a prior similar crime. Detective Constable Valentin Radulescu, who investigated the case, said Payne showed little regard for the impact of her actions on her employer. He noted that her second offense demonstrated she had not learned from her past mistakes, leading the courts to impose a custodial sentence she had previously avoided. He hopes her time in prison will allow her to reflect on her actions and that the case serves as a warning to others considering similar deceptive practices.